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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26894323">rise and fall</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf'>WattStalf</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Commissions [208]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Diamond &amp; Pearl &amp; Platinum | Pokemon Diamond Pearl Platinum Versions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Falling In Love, First Crush, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:10:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26894323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Maylene becomes a gym leader, she has the chance to meet her childhood crush. She tries to convince herself that those feelings are in the past, but that doesn't exactly work out. At the same time, Crasher Wake continues to remind himself that someone as young and cute as her could never be into him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Maximum Mask | Crasher Wake/Sumomo | Maylene</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Commissions [208]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1325462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>rise and fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Wrote it a month ago, this is a 12 year old ship of mine, and I finally got to write my idea of how they would get together!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As a new gym leader, Maylene has a lot of responsibilities to see to. She has trainers studying under her now, and challengers to battle, challengers that she can’t be </span>
  <em>
    <span>too</span>
  </em>
  <span> tough on, but that she can’t make it too easy for, either. And she has to keep up with training her Pokemon, to make sure that they stay in top shape for her position, and once all of that is out of the way, she still has her martial arts training to worry about as well. There are many important things for her to do now, many responsibilities that come with the job, and none of them have to do with how secretly excited she is for the chance to meet one of her senior gym leaders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s hard for her to help that secret excitement though, no matter how silly it might actually be. For years, she has admired him, and now, with both of them Sinnoh gym leaders, there is no doubt that she will get to meet him soon. And as much as Maylene may want to pretend that her crush on him was something left behind in her childhood, she knows that there is a strong chance it will all come right back to her once she has the chance to meet the man in person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She is not sure if she would have gotten into wrestling, were it not for him, but the fact that he was a Pokemon trainer as well was what brought her in, and then, Crasher Wake kept her interested. Strength has always fascinated her, hence her interest in martial arts and Fighting type Pokemon, so it only makes sense that a wrestler-slash-gym-leader would keep her captivated from a young age. The fact that he does not use Fighting types in his gym only makes him that much more interesting to her, and even though it has been several years and she should have grown out of it by now, and even though that phase of his career has mostly faded away, leaving him more occupied with gym leader duties.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Most would say that his glory days are already over, but just knowing that he is a rank above her in the Pokemon League, just knowing that she is only one rank below him, just knowing that she is going to get to meet him eventually, Maylene can’t help but get excited. After spending years of admiring him from afar, she looks forward to the chance to get to challenge him, both to a Pokemon battle and to a friendly sparring match.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If she ends up hopelessly infatuated after the fact, she will just have to put that out of her mind. She has so many responsibilities to attend to now that she is a gym leader.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~X~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From what he has heard, the new Veilstone gym leader is quite a force to be reckoned with. Specializing in Fighting types and with an interest in fighting herself, he has been told that, despite her small size, she is nothing short of a powerhouse. Maylene is young but promising, and he is interested in paying her a visit, feeling that it is only right, with her being new and so close to him. A quick visit to welcome her into her new gym, and perhaps challenge her to a friendly battle to get a feel for her strength in that regard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does not plan on challenging her to anything else, though. As strong as she may be, she is still young, still a little girl, and he doubts that it would be fair of him to challenge her to a physical fight. Even if he were to hold himself back, the size difference will all but ensure his victory against her, and the last thing he wants to do is accidentally injure the new gym leader. A Pokemon battle is fine, because one’s size and physical strength do not factor in at all, and he has always found it to be a good way to get to know somebody.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, one morning, he sets out for Veilstone, pleased to find that the gym is not busy when he arrives. He decides to formally challenge the gym, working his way through her trainers, an interesting group of martial artists that call themselves the Karate Quads. With his experience, they do not offer too much of a challenge, but he would say they are at the appropriate level for this gym, for any real challengers that might come through here, and if they are any indication of Maylene’s strength, then he is sure that she will be everything that he expects her to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he does finally reach the gym leader, though, he finds that she is actually even smaller than he expected her to be, and he can’t help but wonder just how old she actually is. Her face is flushed, nearly as pink as her hair as she looks up at him, and he wonders if she had been busy working out or something, while she waited for her challenger to reach her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wasn’t expecting you,” she finally says, and only now does he notice just how wide her eyes are as she gawks at him. Is she that intimidated by getting a visit from a senior gym leader?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wanted to do this like a real gym battle!” he replies with a smile, hoping that putting on a friendlier face will help ease her nerves a bit. There is nothing for her to be intimidated by, since he is just here to get to know her and welcome her. “It’s nothing official, and I can’t actually accept a badge from you or anything, but since you’re new, I thought it could be fun to show me your stuff!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, I just…I mean, I had been hoping we might get the chance for that,” she says, looking down at the ground this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that right? You were hoping to battle me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, of course! I haven’t had a chance since I settled in to think about traveling to any of the other gyms, but yours would have been first on my list!” Now, she looks back up at him, and this time, her eyes are shining a bit, and he recognizes the excitement in them. Is she…?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There’s no way, not a girl her age, he tells himself, as he says aloud, “I have to say, I’m honored. Or is that just a location thing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not at all, but the location is very convenient! No, you see, I’m actually a really big fan of yours! I have been for a long time, so I was looking forward to the chance to get to meet you, and even challenge you,” she says, confirming the suspicion that he had just dismissed as being too ridiculous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, how did a young girl like you end up such a big fan?” he asks, hardly believing it, even though she has no reason to make something like that up. Not only that but, even though he has only known her for a few minutes, she seems very sincere, not the type to say something like that for any reason other than genuinely meaning it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve always loved fighting and I’ve always loved Pokemon. A successful wrestler </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> Pokemon trainer was just…well, ideal for me!” she exclaims, and her excitement is so overpowering now that he could almost blush. She is definitely too young for him, but there is no denying that she is about as cute as they come.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re flattering me a little too much there,” he replies at last. “I guess I’d still count as a successful trainer, but my other career isn’t really what it used to be.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That doesn’t matter to me! Some people might call you an aging, falling star, but I don’t think any of that matters!” She says this with such overwhelming sincerity, fits clenched in front of her chest, eyes locked with his, that he nearly forgets to feel a little stung at her usage of words. Naturally, she does not mean it like that, but she is quoting real things that have been said about him. “Nothing changes just how amazing you are…and always have been!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, alright,” he says, cutting her off before she can keep going by patting her on the top of the head. Her pink cheeks darken a bit at this, and he starts to think that maybe she was not flushed from exercising, but simply because she had a chance to meet him. It has been a long time since such an arrogant thought felt so natural, but she has made her interest in him very clear. Definitely, </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span> too young for him, and probably not even interested in that way, but he still gets a bit of an ego boost from this conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway,” he continues, trying not to let himself get too swept away in thoughts of what it would be like if she </span>
  <em>
    <span>weren’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> too young for him, and if she </span>
  <em>
    <span>were</span>
  </em>
  <span> interested in him like that, “how about that battle? Let’s see what you’ve got!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just don’t go easy on me!” she says, seeming to have finally regained her composure and her voice. “I’ll be pushing myself to my limit, so I expect you to do the same for me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had thought about going a little bit easy on her; maybe not so easy that he let her win, or anything like that, but if things had seemed a little too one-sided, he might have eased up a bit, to make sure that he did not overwhelm her. Now, however, he knows that he can’t do that. He owes his big fan the battle of her dreams, and even if he ends up overpowering her and crushing her in a matter of minutes, he knows that he can’t hold anything back from her, not when she has asked him like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could I turn down a request like that?” he replies, and the battle is soon underway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~X~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maylene is not surprised when she loses to Crasher Wake. If anything, she is surprised by how close of a loss it is, with both of them down to their last Pokemon when her Lucario finally faints. Not only is she surprised because of their difference in experience and strength, but because of who her opponent is. When he first approached her, she thought she was going to faint from shock, and she is certain that the only reason she could focus during their battle is because her desire to look good in front of him outweighed any distraction that she may have been faced with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But now that it is over, she hardly knows what to do with herself. He shakes her hand and thanks her for a great battle, congratulating her on her efforts while she stammers out a congratulation for his victory. Just as she feared, meeting him in person is all it takes to destroy the idea that she might have gotten over her childhood crush on him. If anything, she likes him even more in person, and he is so immediately familiar with her, not seeming to have any trouble talking to her or even touching her- he patted her on the head!- making it impossible to deny her attraction to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knows that she doesn’t have a chance with a man like him, though, and she would not even know where to start, even if she did try to waste her time with it. He probably thinks of her as a child, probably thinks that she is too young for him, and if she can barely think of what to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>, then what on earth would she say to try and impress him? Knowing that there is nothing she can do about it, she just hopes that she will be able to push it out of her mind whenever she is around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she does not want their first encounter to end just yet. She has dreamed of meeting him for so long, and has finally gotten the Pokemon battle of her dreams. Things can’t just end here, with one last dream left unfulfilled. With bright eyes, she looks up at him and asks, “Do you want to try fighting me directly now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, now, you can’t really be asking me to spar with you,” he replies, and for a moment, her face falls, before she returns to her usual, determined expression.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course I am! We’ve put out Pokemon against each other, and you’ve shown me your strength there. Now, I want to see how I measure up to you on my own!” she insists. “I’ve wanted the chance to see your strength in person for so long. Please don’t deny me that!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I don’t want to do anything to hurt you,” he insists, and she is a bit hurt by his words, though she tries to shake that off. Of course he would assume, from looking at her, that she does not have much to offer. She is so much younger and so much less experienced than him, and he knows his own prowess when it comes to fighting. Surely he can tell from a glance that she is not a worthy opponent, but still, she can’t bring herself to give up just like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know how to hold my own,” she says. “If it’s just a friendly match, then you have nothing to worry about there! I know I might not look like much, but I promise that I won’t bore you! I’ll give you an interesting match, so please just give me a chance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s nothing like that, it’s just…” He trails off, trying to think of how to explain himself, but when he is unable to come up with anything, he finally caves. Sighing, he says, “Alright, but I’m going to try not to push you too far, so you need to let me know if it gets to be too much for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She can’t blame a seasoned expert for underestimating her, but even so, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> rather frustrating to be underestimated like this. Maylene nods and says, “Agreed. But I promise you that </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> is not going to happen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, she is more determined than ever to impress him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~X~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps he’s a lot rustier than he thought. Either that, or Maylene is a damn prodigy. It’s hard to tell exactly what happens, except that even when he does not hold anything back, she still manages to take him by surprise. Rather than being a drawback, her small size seems to give her an advantage, and before he knows it, she has him on his back. Maylene is fast and strong, and he can’t hope to keep up with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You didn’t go easy on me, did you?” is the first thing that she asks when their match is done, panting and scowling, certain that he let her win this one. If only!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not at all,” he says, struggling to catch his breath as he speaks. “I would have, but you didn’t give me the chance. That was me going all out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maylene looks at him like she does not quite believe him, as she reaches a hand out to help him up. “Well, if you want my personal opinion, it doesn’t look like you know how to handle someone a lot smaller than you. I guess that makes sense, since you’re not used to dealing with opponents that aren’t…well, big wrestlers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got completely different styles, that’s for sure,” he agrees. “I had no idea how to handle you, but I’ve picked up on some of your tricks. Next time, I’ll figure you out for sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her face brightens when he promises her a next time, and he promises her a next time because he has absolutely no self-control. He promises her a next time for the same reason that his heart feels like it jumps into his throat when he sees the way her face lights up. He promises her a next time because, somewhere between the start of their match and the moment where she thoroughly kicked his ass, he fell for him, totally and completely. And now, he is in so deep, so fast, that the only thing he can do is make promises to see her again, even though he knows that he should probably try to avoid her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s too young and too cute for him, and still he is willing to do whatever he can to see her again, to keep spending time like this. Maybe he can’t ever make a move on her, maybe he would feel bad doing something like that, but she looks up to him, and has shown him just how out of shape he has gotten. It can’t hurt to keep visiting her, to battle together and spar together, to train and keep each other motivated, to serve as a mentor to the new gym leader, just as long as he ignores his crush on her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It might even go away, given time. He might just be riding the high of facing a good opponent for the first time in a while, and might not even be as infatuated as he thinks he is. A cute girl just gave him one hell of a fight and one hell of an adrenaline rush; it only makes sense for him to mistake that for romantic attraction. He barely even knows her, so if he gives it enough time, he will surely be able to get over this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But until then, he can already tell that Maylene is going to be on his mind way too much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~X~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dating </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> Crasher Wake has never been on the table, not when he was a celebrity crush, and not even now that she knows him personally. It just feels exciting, to be able to get this close to someone that she has always looked up to, and the fact that she has impressed him so much only further encourages the crush that she knows she needs to keep to herself. He isn’t actually interested in her, because he just sees her as a kid that he needs to look after, as a senior gym leader and mentor, and that is just fine by her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, she might still have a thing for him, but that does not mean that she can’t be happy with things the way they are now. Just being able to be close to someone that she idolizes is definitely enough for her, just as long as she can keep her pounding heart under control, and can keep herself from saying something completely stupid while talking to him. And she seems to handle that part just fine, as the two of them fall into a routine, finding time to train together and work on their various strengths and weaknesses. They have fun together, and she falls for him a little more each time, while keeping herself convinced that this is always going to be completely one-sided, and that she is just fine with that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe in time, she can turn her feelings completely platonic, and convince herself to only look at him as a mentor. Even though right now, it seems like the more time she spends with him, the harder she falls, she is certain that she can turn that around eventually, and build a proper, platonic relationship with him. Along the way, at least, she is having a lot of fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them have a routine, sparring and battling and training, neither of them aware of how the other feels, and both too afraid to confess to the other, both certain that there is no way that this could ever work out. They both have their reasons for assuming that the other is out of their league and would never be interested, both too stupid to figure out what is going on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Until the day that things change for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything starts out normal enough, and after warming up with a good Pokemon battle- Maylene is getting better at understanding his strategy and coming closer each time- they prepare for a spar- Crasher Wake is getting better at figuring out how to handle someone as small and speedy as Maylene. He assures her that he will claim a new victory today, and she teases him, telling him not to be so sure of himself when he has never even come close to defeating her before, and the two of them get down to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She struggles with him a little bit more this time, his progress really showing, but she has learned his fighting style just the same as he has learned hers, and she is still able to give him a run for his money. By the time she has him on his back, she is caught up in the adrenaline of the fight. This is her favorite part of being with him, when she is so hyped up that her one-sided crush doesn’t matter to her in the slightest, that she does not feel shy around him, that she can tease him and enjoy being close to him without thinking about how long she has admired him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Perhaps that is why she decides to tease him a little more than usual today. She’s in a good mood, enjoying their closeness, and not concerned about looking silly in front of him. Normally, she climbs right off of him after she is done, not bothering holding him down or counting, because he accepts defeat readily. That part, she thinks, is him going easy on her, because she doubts she would be able to hold him down, if he really wanted to push her off. Maybe they would just prolong the fight, and she would keep pinning him again and again until he was too exhausted to bother fighting her off, but instead, he always cuts things short by admitting defeat, so she never tries to hold him down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she’s having fun today, so she does, grinning down at him as she says, “Are you done already?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I am,” he replies, breathless, not bothering to try and throw her off. “You got me again, but I was close that time!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s what you always say, but you also always give up right here!” she teases. “Is it because you know you can’t beat a little girl like me?” She does not know what comes over her, what possesses her to lay down on top of him, but she does, letting her whole weight fall on him, as if daring him to try and throw her off. But he hesitates, rather than pushing her, and that is when she has the chance to feel his erection.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Immediately, her face goes red. She can’t actually be feeling what she thinks that she’s feeling, she must be imagining things, or she’s confused, or maybe…completely out of her mind in her confusion, she does the worst possible thing that she could have thought to do in the moment, and grinds against him, as if to try and confirm what it is that she might have felt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lets out a sharp gasp and their eyes meet, and she can see the sheer panic in his face. There is nothing that either of them can think to say right now, nothing that they can do to resolve the tension, and no way for him to explain himself in a way that will not get her hopes up. Maylene knows that she is taking things too far, but maybe she is still caught up in the adrenaline, or maybe she is tired of waiting, after admiring him from afar for so many years. Maybe she was stupid to think she would ever be able to shake these feelings for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does not try to throw her off, and he does not try to stop her when she presses her lips against his. Though he stiffens as first, he does not try and stop her, and, after a moment, he wraps his arms around her and holds her on top of him while he returns her kiss, quickly taking the lead. She does not have much experience with this, but he is able to help her figure it out, leading her along until she is moaning into his mouth, grinding on top of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But after a moment, he grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her out of the kiss, asking her, “Are you sure you want to do this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am,” she breathes, surprised that she can speak at all. “I really, really like you, I always have, and I didn’t think you would ever…but if you do, then I…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could do a lot better than me. I promised myself I was never going to let things go this far, because you’re way too good to waste your time on a washed up old man like me,” he replies. “But now I let myself get carried away, and you’re telling me that you like me…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how to do any of this. Not this, or dating, or anything, but I really want to try! Can you…train me in that sort of stuff?” She does not know where she gets the courage to ask such a bold question, but since she has come so far, she isn’t giving up now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, you’re the only student I’ve ever had,” he says. “I’m not sure if I can teach you much of anything in that regard, but I’d be a terrible mentor if I turned you down outright, so I’ll give it a try. But if you keep laying on top of me like that, I’m going to end up skipping a few lessons, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Blushing, she looks down at him and murmurs, “I don’t mind if we skip a few. We can come back to them later. How about you show me what this washed up old man can do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so, he does.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~X~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He promised himself that he would never let things go that far, but he also never would have dreamed that Maylene was as infatuated with him as she was, so maybe that promise doesn’t really count. She might have made it a little obvious, with how over the top her hero worship of him was, but he had been dense enough to write that off, right up until the big moment. Now, however, he knows that, for better or worse, she wants him just as badly as he wants her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two of them still train together; in fact, most of their dates turn into some sort of training, because Maylene is young and promising and dedicated, and he really needs to get back into shape. But they have a lot of other things that they can do in their free time now, and he knows that, despite the age difference, despite him feeling as though she is completely out of his league, and despite her insane belief that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> is the one out of </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span> league, the two of them make a good fit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He still hasn’t managed to beat her in a fight, though.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you're interested in my writing updates, please join my discord server! https://discord.gg/xUrPXDH<br/>I stream here, and the chat is locked when there isn't a stream going on, so for the most part, it's only posts that are updates from me</p></blockquote></div></div>
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